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Hug a Bear Day

Fun · November 7

A day for hugging a bear, which in practice means a teddy bear or other plush one, since the real kind prefers plenty of personal space.

Hug a Bear Day falls on Saturday, November 7, 2026. That is 11 days away.

The bear in question is almost always a stuffed one. A teddy bear, a plush polar bear from a gift shop, the worn brown bear that has lived on the same shelf for years. Real bears are wild animals and do best when people admire them from a safe distance, so the hugging is left to the soft kind.

A teddy bear is a simple object. Fabric on the outside, soft filling inside, two eyes, a nose, and arms that sit at just the right angle to be held. Many people keep one long after childhood. Some bears have lost an ear or most of their fur, and their owners tend to like them more for it.

Marking the day is quiet work. People pull an old bear out of a closet and set it somewhere it can be seen again. Kids introduce their bears to each other. Adults sometimes admit they still have theirs, which usually leads to someone else admitting the same thing. Photos of well loved bears get passed around, along with their names, which are often plain, like Brownie or Mr. Bear, and chosen long ago by someone very small.

A bear that has been hugged for years usually shows it in the same places: thin fur on the tummy, a slightly flattened face, and a seam at the neck that has been stitched back up at least once.

Ways to celebrate

• Find your old teddy bear and give it a hug.
• Share a photo of a well loved bear and its name.
• Stitch up a loose seam on a stuffed bear.
• Donate a clean, gently used plush bear to a local charity.
• Watch a wildlife video of real bears, enjoyed from a distance.

Dates

All national days on November 7

Also on November 7

• National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day
• National Bison Day
• Notary Public Day

Categories: Fun days